NBA: History says Boston Celtics may end Miami Heat's win streak

Less than a week after the Celtics ended Charlotte’s 10-game losing streak, could they be the team that finally snaps Miami’s long winning streak?

Sure. History is certainly on the Celtics’ side.

The Celtics have suffered through embarrassing defeats that ended losing streaks of 10 and seven games by Charlotte and seven games by Portland this season, but all three of those games were on the road.

The Celtics took Saturday’s rematch against Charlotte for their 11th win in a row at the Garden, and the first of those victories came against Miami, 100-98, in double overtime on Jan. 27.

Miami can extend its winning streak to 22 games by beating the Raptors in Toronto at 1 p.m. today. That would tie the Heat with the 2007-08 Houston Rockets for the second-longest winning streak in NBA history, trailing only the Lakers’ 33-game winning streak in the 1971-72 season.

Guess who ended the Rockets’ 22-game winning streak? It was the Celtics, and they’ll host Miami at 8 p.m. Monday on ESPN, five years to the day since they did it. Kevin Garnett had 22 points and 11 rebounds, and Paul Pierce scored 20 as the Celtics blew out the Rockets in Houston, 94-74, on March 18, 2008. Ray Allen didn’t play for the Celtics because of a sore left ankle, but Leon Powe scored 21.

Miami forward Shane Battier started for the Rockets that night, so he could become the answer to an excellent trivia question. Who played for the only two teams that had 22-game winning streaks halted by the Celtics?

Houston center Yao Ming suffered a season-ending foot injury on Feb. 26, 2008, and those 2007-08 Rockets didn’t go on to win the NBA championship. The Celtics did. So if the Celtics end Miami’s 22-game winning streak, will they go on to win the championship again? That’s unlikely, but ending Miami’s streak is more doable.

The Celtics have gone 5-0 at home against the Heat during the regular season since LeBron James joined Miami for the 2010-11 season. On Jan. 27, the Celtics beat the Heat in double overtime in their first game without Rajon Rondo. Pierce had a triple-double of 17 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists, and Garnett contributed 24 points and 11 rebounds to offset 34 points by James and 21 by Allen.

After that game, the Celtics learned that Rondo had torn his ACL in the previous game against Atlanta and would be sidelined for the rest of the season.

The Celtics won their first seven without Rondo before suffering one of those embarrassing losses at Charlotte, which had dropped seven straight. Entering Saturday, the Celtics had gone 16-6 since Rondo has been out.

If Miami’s streak doesn’t end today or Monday, it could last for a while. After visiting the Celtics Monday, the Heat play Cleveland, Detroit, Charlotte and Orlando, four of the five worst teams in the Eastern Conference. Their next stiff test could come March 26 at Chicago or Easter Sunday at San Antonio.

If Miami keeps winning, it could match the Lakers’ record 33-game winning streak with a victory at home against Philadelphia on April 6, and it could eclipse it at home against Milwaukee on April 9. The winning streak could reach 35 by the time the Celtics visit Miami on April 12. If Miami wins out, it would finish the season with 39 consecutive victories.

Ten years ago, Garnett played every game for the Minnesota Timberwolves and Pierce missed only three for Boston, all due to a sore back, not because he needed a night off.

Imagine coaching them together in the prime of their careers? Rivers never got that chance. Garnett was 31 when he joined the Celtics, and he’s 36 now. Pierce is 35. They tire faster now, and Rivers must limit their minutes and figure out when to give them a night off to keep them fresh for the playoffs.

Pierce is averaging the same 34 minutes he has for the past four years, and Garnett is averaging 30, one less than last season.

When Rivers rested Garnett at Phoenix on Feb. 22, Jeff Green started and scored 31 points, and the Celtics won by 25. When Rivers decided to rest Pierce Tuesday at Charlotte, the Celtics lost by 26 to the NBA’s worst team. The Celtics played so poorly, Rivers doesn’t believe Pierce would have made a difference. But the bottom line is he plans to continue to give Pierce and Garnett nights off every once in a while so they’ll be fresh for the playoffs. If that means the Celtics drop a spot or two in the tight Eastern Conference standings, so be it.

Pierce has been battling a pinched nerve in his neck and other bumps and bruises, and he admitted that he needed a night off Tuesday.

“It’s good sometimes,” he said, “especially at my age. Your body doesn’t heal as quickly as you want it to heal, and you have some aches and pains, and sometimes you need nights when you can just recover from certain injuries. I’ve had a lot of injuries throughout this season, and it’s hard to recover from them when you’re playing so many games every other night.”

How does Rivers decide when one of his older players needs a day off?

“Really, it’s just what you see,” he said. “You travel with the guys, you talk with them all the time and when you pick up something where you think a guy needs a day off, you give him a day off. A lot doesn’t go into. I’m not one that really looks at the schedule and says, ‘Let’s do it on this game or this game.’ It’s more what’s in front of you, and you make a decision.”

Playing fewer minutes helps keep an older player fresh, but not anywhere near as much as taking a game off.

“Once you play, you play,” Rivers said. “I’ve never bought that theory if you played 10 minutes as opposed to 30 minutes, you had more rest. It sounds great, but you still warm up the same, you do a lot the same.”

Part of it is because the Celtics play aggressive defense and part of it is because they’re older and not as quick as many of their opponents, but the Celtics are committing too many fouls.

“We’re fouling a lot,” Rivers said.

In losses to Oklahoma City and Charlotte last week, the Celtics were outscored at the foul line, 51-30. Rivers thought the Celtics got beat off the dribble and reached in too often.

Entering Saturday, the Celtics were averaging the fourth most fouls per game (21.3) in the NBA. Boston had been called for 1,366 fouls and the opposition had been called for only 1,265. That 101-foul difference may make Tommy Heinsohn’s blood boil, but the Celtics don’t force their opponents into committing a lot of fouls because they shoot a lot of jumpers instead of taking the ball inside. Nevertheless, Rivers wants his players to stop fouling so much.

Entering Saturday, the Celtics led the NBA in disqualifications with 15. Rookie Jared Sullinger, who suffered a season-ending back injury on Jan. 30, accounted for eight DQs. Too bad he didn’t signed an endorsement deal with Dairy Queen. Sullinger’s 154 fouls rank second on the team to Pierce’s 175.

Even though the Celtics shoot a much higher percentage at the foul line than their opponents, 77.9 compared to 73.2, they’re getting outscored at the line by 1.1 points a game. That’s a lot considering they outscore the opposition overall by only two-tenths of a point, 95.9-95.7.

The fact that Pope Francis is the first Jesuit pope was not lost on Rivers, who graduated from Marquette University, a Jesuit school.

“We have the power now,” Rivers said with a smile.

Happy St. Patrick’s Day to all Celtics fans, and happy 54th birthday to Danny Ainge, Celtics president of basketball operations. Ainge is the only current or former Celtics player to be born on St. Patrick’s Day.

Contact Bill Doyle at wdoyle@telegram.com. Follow him on Twitter @BillDoyle15